Every Match From The Final WCW Nitro, Ranked Worst To Best
We're approaching nearly 22 years since the final WCW Monday Nitro aired. The show famously was once crushing the WWE in the ratings on Monday nights, but soon collapsed and by 2001 was in dire straights. Eric Bischoff planned on buying the company, but once they lost their TNT deal, the writing was on the wall.
RELATED: WCW: Every Major Four Horsemen Feud, Ranked Worst To Best
Vince McMahon swooped in and bought the company for pennies on the dollar in 2001. On March 26th, 2001, fans were witness to the final WCW Monday Nitro. The episode is regarded as one of the most emotional and meaningful in company history, so let's rank the matches on the show.
7 Shawn Stasiak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
One of two matches on the card on the final WCW Monday Nitro to not include a title was the outing between Shawn Stasiak and Bam Bam Bigelow. The stipulation on this match was that if the former lost, he would have to get a tattoo, so it was high stakes for sure.
RELATED: 10 WCW Storylines That Ended In The Worst Possible Way
This one is hard to even call a match, as Stasiak won in less than 90 seconds. It's understandable that WCW would want to wrap up some storylines, but putting this on the final card was bizarre. It's worth noting that Diamond Dallas Page didn't appear on this show, but this match did. Stacy Keibler was the highlight of this match, as she appeared as Stasiak's manager.
6 The Natural Born Thrillers vs. Team Canada
On the final WCW Monday Nitro, fans got to see the WCW Tag Team Titles defended for the final time. The champions, the Natural Born Thrillers, which composed of Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo, took on Team Canada, which featured Mike Awesome and Lance Storm.
This match was quite solid but featured all four men trying to get their spots in as quickly as they could, and a lot of the action felt forced. This one ended in under four minutes, with the champions retaining their titles and ending WCW as champions. This match could've used some more time, which will be a theme here.
5 The Filthy Animals vs. 3 Count vs. The Jung Dragons
WCW's tag team cruiserweight division was one of the highlights of the final months of WCW. With that in mind, the division received a fair bit of shine on the final Nitro. Early in the night, The Filthy Animals (Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman), faced off with 3 Count (Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore) and The Jung Dragons (Kaz Hayashi and Yun Yung) in a tag team triple threat match.
The winner was set to receive a title bid later in the evening. Similar to the other tag team match, this one had some high-flying action, but it felt a little forced at times. Overall it was a solid sprint of a match that ended in around four minutes, with Mysterio and Kidman getting the win.
4 Shane Helms vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
The cruiserweights got their share of screen time on the final WCW Monday Nitro. Cruiserweight Champion Shane Helms faced off with Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a title match that would result in the winner being the final man to ever hold the belt.
This match was simply fun and saw prime Helms and Guerrero Jr. going head-to-head for around five minutes. While this outing absolutely deserved more time, it was still a lot of fun and both wrestlers came off looking good throughout. In the end, it was Helms who won the match and ended WCW as cruiserweight champion.
3 The Filthy Animals vs. Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo
After The Filthy Animals won the tag team triple threat match, they received a crack at the champions, who were Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo. The makeshift team had become champions just one week prior, as WCW wrapped up the inaugural tag team tournament to crown the champions at WCW Greed. Skipper and Romeo captured the belts on pay-per-view in a match against The Filthy Animals.
This match was solid, as the high-flyers had some awesome spots throughout the near five-minute match. Like everything else on the card, this could've used more time. But they worked with what they could, and The Filthy Animals ended the night as champions and avenged their defeat from one week prior.
2 Booker T vs. Scott Steiner
In a surprising move, WCW Monday Nitro decided to open up the card with a unification match between United States Champion Booker T, and WCW Champion Scott Steiner. The moment was an important one, as it would crown the final champion in the company's history, and also saw two of the biggest stars on the roster going head-to-head.
This match was quite solid and technical. If you've seen these two wrestle in the past, this outing won't feature anything new. However, it was fun, and also an emotional moment as Booker T ended the night as a two-belt champion.
1 Sting vs. Ric Flair
The main event of the final WCW Monday Nitro was the best match of the night. In the headliner, legends Sting and Ric Flair went toe to toe once again, which made sense considering their rivalry was one of the most important and prominent in company history.
RELATED: Sting's Final 10 WCW PPV Matches, Ranked From Worst To Best
While Sting and Flair later stated that they were both checked out by this point, fans couldn't tell. The crowd loved this match, even though it was essentially the legends playing the hits for seven minutes. Sting won the match after seven minutes, a fitting send-off for Nitro.
